Authentically country Cody Johnson calls for unity over division during UC’s Windy City Smokeout

Photos by Daniel DeSlover

The United Center parking lots were opened wide and filled as far as the eye could see when the Windy City Smokeout set up for a long weekend filled with not only the leading names in country music, but the some of the best barbecue and brews from all across America.

Thomas Rhett was the first to blow the cork off the bottle, Parker McCollum kept the party going and Carrie Underwood was slated to close, but there’s never anything quite like a Saturday night at the annual extravaganza and Cody Johnson more than rose to the occasion, in spite of some extremely strange circumstances.

A few hours before his headlining appearance, potentially severe weather prompted a brief evacuation, and right around then, an assassination attempt was made on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Some shirts and hats supporting the current Republican candidate could be spotted, amongst a cross-section of artist merchandise and general attire, as the gates re-opened, which ironically, are the ones to the very same venue about the host the Democratic National Convention where increased security is already being implemented.

Irregardless of it all, Johnson’s performance went on as planned and the horsepower he and a monster band poured into the authentically country likes of “Me & My Kind,” “Dance Her Home,” “With You I Am” and “Leather,” the title track to his latest long-player, easily made everyone forget what was happening in the outside world.

If anything, the 37-year-old Texas native is the embodiment of the American dream, who after literally starving for his art and grinding constantly at small bars like Joe’s for about a decade, a place he regularly thanked and praised, eventually hit the jackpot to the point where he’s become one of the genre’s biggest breakouts.

“People In The Back” spoke perfectly of those circumstances and those who didn’t make it onto the immediate pavement surrounding the stage, though thankfully, enormous screens beamed the singer/guitar-slinger and all the flashy lights to the furthest corners.

Despite admitting to being torn about whether or not to address the earlier incident, Johnson ultimately decided to make a passionate plea for unity and rallied firmly against political, racial and religious divisions, shooting straight down the middle and paving the way for a genuinely patriotic edition of “God Bless America,” a track he frequently covers, but obviously possessed additional gravity on this particularly divisive day.

He soon picked the pace back up for a blazing version of “The Painter,” then spread nothing but perseverance and positivity throughout “’Til You Can’t” as the crowd of many stripes screamed along, which coupled with the earlier tenacity, sincerity and sheer talent, made this Windy City Smokeout triumph one for the history books.

For additional information on Cody Johnson and Windy City Smokeout, visit CodyJohnsonMusic.com and WindyCitySmokeout.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the United Center include Windy City Smokeout (Jul. 14); Carin León (Sept. 19-20); Hans Zimmer (Sept. 22); Cigarettes After Sex (Sept. 23); The National and The War On Drugs (Sept. 24); NCT Dream (Sept. 26); Jeff Lynne’s ELO (Sept. 27-28); Charli XCX and Troye Sivan (Sept. 30); Twenty One Pilots (Oct. 1-2); Childish Gambino (Oct. 3); Peso Pluma (Oct. 6); $uicideboy$ (Oct. 8); Nick Cannon (Oct. 9); Maxwell (Oct. 10); Jelly Roll (Oct. 11); Sabrina Carpenter (Oct. 13); Maggie Rogers (Oct. 24); Justin Timberlake (Oct. 27); Usher (Oct. 28, 29 and 31); Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (Nov. 1); Marco Antonio Solís (Nov. 3); Sebastian Maniscalco (Nov. 8-9); Billie Eilish (Nov. 13-14); Maverick City Music (Nov. 16); Cyndi Lauper (Dec. 5) and Shakira (Dec. 14). For additional details, visit UnitedCenter.com.

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Authentically country Cody Johnson calls for unity over division during UC’s Windy City Smokeout

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